Port Arthur Museum-fortress: where it is located, history and interesting facts

Where is Port Arthur located? How to get there?

Tourists wishing to visit the museum-fortress should be prepared for the fact that the road will not be easy. This refers to the cost of time.

The residents of Vladivostok will take a little time, only five or six hours. A flight with a transfer in Seoul from Vladivostok will take travelers to Dalian in four hours. From there, take the regular bus to Lüshun, the journey takes one hour. You can go by taxi, but it will be more expensive.

The same route, but by car will take almost a whole day. For traveling in China, you should prepare a route in advance or use local Internet maps.

Residents of central Russia will first take a flight to Beijing, which is about eight hours. Then you can also continue the journey by plane. Flight "Beijing - Dalian", travel time will be 1.5 hours.A trip by bus or car will take at least nine hours, plus another hour to where Port Arthur is located.

And for sightseeing it will take at least three to four days. The city stretched along the coast, monuments and historical sites are located far from each other, for a couple of days not to cope.

City `s history

In the place of the Chinese fishing village of Lüshunkou in the 1880s, construction began on a city of the same name. Twenty years earlier, the village was named Port Arthur, after the repair of the ship of British Lieutenant William C. Arthur was made there. This is the English name and was later adopted by Russia and European countries.

The decision to build a city was dictated by the desire of China to protect its approaches from the sea to the European powers, who were keenly interested in the place where Port Arthur was located.

During the first Sino-Japanese War in 1894, Japan occupied the city. A year later, thanks to the pressure of Russia, France and Germany, Port Arthur was returned to China.

At the end of 1897, the first Russian ships appeared in the Yellow Sea. A year later, an agreement was signed between China and Russia that two port cities, Lüshun and Dalyan (Port Arthur and Dalny), are leased to the Russian state for 25 years.However, Japan did not tolerate the Russian fleet at its side, and in 1904, without warning, attacked Port Arthur.

Where Port Arthur is located, history preserves the memory of the heroism of Russian soldiers.

Courage Russian sailors in the Japanese-Russian war

Port Arthur is indeed a Chinese city of Russian glory. By the number of sites associated with Russia, this place can be considered unique. In this war, Russian soldiers and officers showed unprecedented bravery, heroism and loyalty to their homeland. After graduation, in 1905, the convention ceased to exist. Then Russia was defeated, and the Japanese again occupied the city.

The siege of Port Arthur lasted almost a year. In this war, killed more than fourteen thousand Soviet soldiers. Their courage was admired by the enemies, who suffered losses several times more. The loss of the enemy amounted to more than one hundred thousand people. In 1908, the grand opening of a memorial memorial dedicated to the courage of those who fell in that war was held. Russian cemetery and a memorial chapel emerged thanks to the Japanese authorities. They made a decision to bury Russian soldiers with honors and preserve in memory the memory of their exploits.On the territory of the cemetery, twelve mass graves, officer graves are decorated with crosses made of white stone, the soldiers' graves are made of cast iron crosses. The Japanese did a lot of work to gather the remains of Russian soldiers in the entire area of ​​the fighting. Five years later, in 1913, they examined the battleship Petropavlovsk, sunken in battle. The remains of the dead sailors were found on it. They were also buried in the Russian cemetery.

Later, graves of Soviet soldiers, monuments crowned with red stars, appeared in the cemetery. On some tombstones inscriptions are made in two languages, in Russian and in Chinese, in hieroglyphs. At the same cemetery there are children's graves. The outbreak of plague in Port Arthur claimed the lives of a whole generation born of mixed marriages between Russian soldiers and local women.

On the territory of the cemetery there is a monument to Soviet pilots who died during the liberation of the city in 1945.

In the same place where Port Arthur is located, a complex in honor of Japanese soldiers was created on Perepelina Gora. A monument-mausoleum and a temple on the hills of the mountain were erected.

Fight for the fort

Port Arthur, according to the Pitmouth Treaty, departed to Japan for 40 years on loan, just as it used to be in Russia. After the expiration of the term, Japan occupied this territory, not wanting to leave the fort.In 1945, the Red Army drove the occupiers out of Port Arthur. A Soviet-Chinese treaty was signed, under which the city was leased to the Soviet Union for thirty years under a naval base. But ten years later, under the influence of the West, the Russian government returned the city to China.

In the Russian cemetery in 1955, residents of the country built a monument to Soviet soldiers-liberators from Japanese invaders. Chinese masters created sculptures of soldiers with banners from real combatants.

Museum Fort Port-Arthur

Russian colony this city was not for long. However, the presence of Russian is felt to this day. The city has preserved buildings from pre-revolutionary Russia and the times of the USSR. Some quarters of the city fully resemble the Russians. There is also a railway station built in 1903 in this place. Currently it is not valid. Ten years ago, a new metro line was launched, from which you can get from Dalian to Port Arthur.

There is a prison building in the city. The Russians began building it in 1902, and the victorious Japanese completed it in 1905. Currently a museum is located in the prison complex.The prison was called Russian-Japanese. Russian prisoners, the local Chinese population, and even the Japanese military personnel were sent there in prison.

The most prominent place in Port Arthur is the memorial, erected in honor of the Japanese military glory on Perepelina Mountain. The monument is made in the form of an artillery shell.

"Big Eagle's Nest"

The hill "Big eagle's nest" - one of the main points of defense of Port Arthur. Here you can see the destroyed military buildings, Japanese monuments and a museum. Russian cannons are mounted on the top of the hill. They were removed from one of the battleships in preparation for the defense of the fortress.

The sloping structures of the fort are located on the slopes of the “Big Eagle's Nest” hill. The walls and fortifications are preserved in the form in which they remained after the first war with the Japanese. Many traces of shells and bullets. In some places of the fort remains of the casemates.

From the top of this hill offers a great view of the city Lushun. It becomes clear what Port Arthur is. This area was of great importance in the defense of the coast.

Russian cemetery. Description of the memorial site

The main historical place in Lüshun is the Russian cemetery. The largest burial of Russian soldiers outside the state. Seventeen thousand people are buried in the cemetery. At the entrance to the cemetery, a monument to the Russian soldiers-liberators of China from the Japanese invaders was erected. Inside the memorial is a museum. He was discovered through the efforts of Chinese citizens. The museum has a lot of photos and expositions devoted to the post-war time. Russia helped China recover after the occupation. In the museum all the texts are in Russian and Chinese.

The total area of ​​the cemetery is 4.8 ha. On its territory are located 1600 sculptures and monuments. This cemetery is recognized as the largest Russian memorial in China. The whole complex is recognized as an object of great historical importance. In 1988, the Chinese government decided that the memorial would be preserved as a monument of provincial significance.

The most significant attractions

Earlier, Lüshun was closed to foreigners. At the present time, to visit the historic area where Port Arthur is located will not be difficult.

Tourists should definitely visit:

Russian 15th Electric Cliff Battery.

Fort on the hill "Big Eagle's Nest."

Mountain High, legendary height 203.

Russian cemetery with a chapel.

Railway station, built by the Russians in 1903.

Separately, I would like to say about the height of 203. It was after it was taken in 1905 that the Russian troops capitulated. Then the victory was left for Japan. For this height were desperate battles for six months. Soldiers on both sides showed unimaginable courage and dedication.

The buildings of that time. Preserved or not? Special features

The buildings, houses, and estates of the early twentieth century have been preserved. True, most of them have not been restored and are in a neglected state, with the exception of rare buildings that have been chosen by modern Chinese.

Some quarters in the Chinese city look quite like in Russia: residential buildings of “Stalinist” and “Khrushchev”, administrative buildings in the Soviet style. The streets of Lenin and Stalin, after the Soviet Union ceased to exist, no one renamed. Quite the contrary. Here, far from Russia, these streets have retained their historical names.Note that they are in excellent condition.